ASTON MARTIN DB3S THE ASTON MARTIN DB3S STORY

ASTON MARTIN DB3S

THE ASTON MARTIN DB3S STORY

Aston Martin can trace its racing heritage back to 1913 when Lionel Martin, a Singer dealer, decided to improve on his product. His modified Singers must have been an improvement (it wasn't difficult to improve a Singer), but he decided that he could do better with a car of his own "design" and installed a 1400cc Coventry-Simplex engine in an Isotta-Fraschini chassis and called it The Hybrid. His next car, built in 1915 and dubbed The Coal Scuttle because it looked like one, became the first Aston-Martin. Martin after Lionel, of course, and Aston after Aston Clinton, a hill climb where Lionel's Singers had performed rather well.

Martin's cars became part of the English racing legend of the twenties and thirties. Martin left the company in 1924 when Bert Bertelli took over and the company became Aston Martin without the hyphen. Fortunes rose and fell, but much like rival Bentley, there was never a volume production car to support the racing efforts. After World War II ended, the company was in a shambles and was offered for sale in an anonymous London Times classified ad. David Brown, head of David Brown Gears, a large, international family-owned business, saw that ad and bought Aston Martin in early 1947 for L20,000 ($80,000). It was going to be his hobby, a fun project to build what he considered the Ideal Sports Car. What he got was a run-down shed at Feltham and a prototype for a 2.0 litre four cylinder sports car called The Atom. Designed by Claude Hill under Aston Martin's previous owner Gordon Sutherland, the car was underpowered but handled well.

After David Brown bought Aston Martin, word must have got out that he was soft for ailing car companies, and he was offered Lagonda. Like Aston Martin, Lagonda was rich in history and often in financial disarray. Founded in 1898 by an American opera singer/engineer, Wilbur Gunn, the firm was building a high quality car by 1909. Gunn named his company after the Shawnee Indian name for Buck Creek in his native Ohio. World War II had interrupted the company's reorganization under Alan P. Good, but not before Good had hired W.O. Bentley as chief designer with the intention of making Lagonda the "best car in the world." They nearly did it, too, but in the dismal financial climate of post World War II England, Lagonda was just another broken car company.

However, it was one that both Jaguar and Rootes wanted, but they too had money problems, and David Brown got Lagonda for L55,000 ($220,000) - a lot more that he paid for his "hobby" at Aston Martin. But Brown, a brilliant business mind (and still is today at age 85), saw an asset in Lagonda that he knew was worth his investment. That asset was a new 2.3 litre dohc inline six designed by W.O. Bentley before he had left Lagonda. The tooling for production was nearly completed.

The four cylinder Hill-designed Atom became the DB1. (Thankfully, it never got a chance to be called The Aston Atom.) Hill was working on a new design for the DB2 and wanted to develop a six of his own based on the Atom's four. But Brown insisted that the DB2 use the Bentley engine. Hill quit and it was reported that W.O. was not happy that his

engine was being used in someone else's car, but Brown had a winner with the DB2 and Aston Martin was very much back in the sports car business. David Brown had done a bit of racing and loved it. Also, he was very aware of the relationship between racing, winning, and selling. In 1948, he entered a modified Atom in the Spa 24-hour and won. The new DB2s proved to be excellent racers, finishing third at Le Mans in 1950. But they were production-based road cars that had been lightened and strengthened a bit, and they lacked the power-to-weight ratio to achieve an overall win.

David Brown wanted to win, however, and started to assemble a racing effort that would take Aston Martin to a World's Sports Car Championship nearly a decade later. DB's business sense told him that the key to racing success was organization, and towards that goal he hired John Wyer as team manager in 1950. Wyer had worked as Solex Carbs, but had become a crack team manager at Monaco Motors. He agreed to help out Aston for one year - and stayed for 13. The brilliant Wyer was one of the great team managers of all time, winning four World's Sports Car Championships during his long career. Known for his "death-ray" dirty looks and sarcastic wit, he was also a kind and supportive father figure who treated his team as family. John never lost a driver to a fatal accident. He knew how to win, but not at all costs.

In 1950, Brown also hired Herr Professor Robert Eberan von Eberhorst, a long-time associate of Dr. Porsche. Von Eberhorst had made the fearsome rear-engined Auto-Union Grand Prix cars work, and had worked in the four-wheel drive Cisitalia Grand Prix project. He was in England to design a new ERA (another company on the rocks) and was headquartered at Monaco Motors. Von Eberhorst was considered one of the world's premiere race car design theorists, and David Brown set him to work on a competition Aston Martin. The goal was to produce a sports racer that would be light enough to give W.O. 2.6 litre six a shot at first to finish.

ASTON MARTIN DB3S

But it didn't happen. The Professor's DB3 was over-weight, behind schedule, and over-budget. Just what went wrong isn't clear. Eberan's design looked great on paper, featuring a large diameter tube ladder frame, with a trailing link torsion bar front suspension. The de Dion rear axle was located with parallel links and panhard rods. Rear brakes were inboard 11 inch Alfins and the fronts massive outboard 13 inch Alfins. Unfortunately, it all weighed too much for the Bentley six. Even with "LB6C" specs - 78 x 90 mm bore and stroke equalling 2580cc and "Vantage" tune featuring three Weber side draft carbs and 140 horsepower at 5300 rpm - the DB3 was slow. And rather ugly, with its slabside body and Portcullis grille. The Special Coupe version (NXY23) was perhaps the ugliest Aston Martin ever.

The DB3 was clearly a disaster, but it did win the 1952 Goodwood Nine Hours with Peter Collins and Pat Griffith driving (after a pit fire that badly burned John Wyer and two mechanics). Also, Reg Parnell finished fifth in the 1953 Mille Miglia - the best finish ever by an English car in that race after breaking a throttle cable, wiring the throttle wide open and driving 350 miles with the ignition switch. Parnell was a true Iron Man. Perhaps all the DB3 needed was a strong hand.

What it actually needed was a tough weight reduction program. And it got one at the hands of Willie Watson, an ex-ERA designer who had joined Eberan at Aston Martin. Watson bypassed his boss and went directly to John Wyer (who was now the general manager) with a plan to use thinner gauge tube - 14 and 16 gauge in place of 12 and 14 gauge in the frame - and reduce the height and length of the car. To his credit, Eberan agreed, and the DB3S emerged 167lbs. lighter, six inches shorter on the wheel base, and two inches narrower in the track. In tests at Monza in May of 1953, the DB3S was 3.2 percent faster with no increase in engine power. It also was handsome and modern-looking with a more aerodynamic body developed by Aston-Lagonda designer Frank Feeley.

Feeley had started at Lagonda in 1926 as a 14-year-old apprentice and had become chief body designer at age 25. Feeley's designs for the Bentley-Good era Lagondas (late thirties) were among the most beautiful cars of the period. But he also understood function, and the new design cooled better than the original Threes and looked as exciting and purposeful as the latest Italian efforts. And it was likely as good or better aerodynamically. Feeley continued to refine the DB3s until it became one of the best looking sports racers ever.

Eberan von Eborhorst and Willie Watson also reworked the rear suspension, changing the de Dion tube location system and replacing the Three's heavy iron cased hypoid differential with a spiral bevel unit with a light alloy case. The inboard brakes were retained until late 1953 when they went outboard to cure overheating problems. The engine size was increased to 3.0 litres with larger intake valves and more radical camshafts. Weber 35DCOs were added to get 182 hp at 5500rpm. Ultimately, the engine would give over 230 hp with the 60 degree twin-plug head introduced in 1954.

However, the cars kept getting heavier, and the power-toweight ratio never quite made it into the super sports racer category.

DB3S 1, 2, and 3 debuted at Le Mans in 1953 and all three DNF'd, but won the five other races they started. These included the Goodwood Nine Hour race - the DB3's only victory the year before - and the Dunrod T.T. with Peter Collins driving. Von Eberhorst left Aston Martin in late 1953, but not before he was sure that his car was a winner. Nineteen fiftyfour should have been a great year for the DB3S, but David Brown made a rare wrong decision and added the Lagonda V12 to the competition effort. The big-engined Ferraris and 3.8 Jaguars continued to dominate, and Brown saw the DP100 4.5 litre V12 as the answer. It wasn't, as its bottom end suffered from impossible bearing clearance problems. The DB3S was forgotten in the rush to solve the V12's unsolvable problems. The V12 car plus four DB3S's were entered at Le Mans, including two new coupes, numbered DB3S 6 and 7 and none finished. Between Le Mans and the Mille Miglia, all Wyer's DB3S's were wrecked. It was a disaster, but Brown insisted that the cars be stuck together for a minor race at Silverstone. They finished 1-2-3 and the season ended on a strong, positive note that would carry the team into 1955.

DB3S numbers 1,2,3 and 4 were sold to privateers for 1955, and the factory rebuilt the coupes, Nos. 6 and 7, as open cars. These cars, known by their street registration numbers 62EMU and 63EMU, because the most famous of the line. They were then fitted with disc brakes, a new and stronger final drive with a ZF limited slip differential, and lighted and more aero bodies. A new car, No. 8, was added, featuring a new iron head with larger intake valves making 200+ horsepower. DB3S No.5, the fibreglass-bodied car built for David Brown's personal use but commandeered by Wyer for team use after 1954's disasters, was returned to the Boss. (Brown says today that his only regret in 25 years of owning Aston Martin was not keeping his race cars).

The DB3S charged into the 1955 season, with Reg Parnell and Roy Salvadori finishing first and second at Silverstone. Paul Frere won at Spa, and he and Peter Collins were second overall (first in 3.0 litre class) at the disastrous Le Mans 24Hour. Salvadori won at Aintree and Crystal Palace, and Reg Parnell was first at Oulton Park.

Peter Walker and Dennis Poore made it three years in a row for DBAM at the Goodwood Nine Hour. Nineteen fifty-five was a glorious season, and it likely could have happened in 1954, too. Although the DB3S was getting old and a replacement was being readied, the best was yet to come.

ASTON MARTIN DB3S

The DBRI was introduced in 1956, but it wasn't ready, and the now four-seasons-old Threes were reworked, with two new cars added, Nos. 9 and 10. (The last factory racer, No. 11, was said to have been exported to America and never ran as a team car.) Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, and Carroll Shelby joined Parnell and Collins to form one of the most talented racing teams ever.

A first at Silverstone, Salvadori driving with Moss in second; Parnell second at Spa; Moss second at Rouen; Salvadori second at Silverstone; Moss and Collins second (two years in a row) at Le Mans; Moss first at Oulton Park with Parnell third; and closing the season Brooks took first at Goodwood and Salvadori was second.

The DBRs became the factory team cars in 1957, with DB3S No. 10 racing only at Oulton Park and at the Nurburgring 1000km. Driven by the Whitehead brothers, it finished ninth. The Whiteheads continued to race DB3S's in 1958, finishing second at Le Mans in DB3S No.6 (62EMU) after the factory DBR1's failed. It was the third second place finish at Le Mans for the 3S - Wyer thought the team should have won in 1955 - but next year, 1959, would at last see a DB Aston Martin win at Le Mans when Salvadori and Shelby would do it in the DBR1.

For a racer that started as an overweight, unattractive loser, it did one of the most dramatic turnabouts in the history of the sport, winning 15 firsts and 13 seconds in its 35 factoryentered races. Some of the most famous names in racing had a hand in it with Bentley and Eberan von Eborhorst connecting it to the past. But it was the vision and money of David Brown, the genius of John Wyer, and the talents of Frank Feeley and Willie Watson that made it into a beautiful and successful sports racing car.

The DB3S featured here is chassis No. 9, one of the last three factory cars built. Aston Martin also built 19 DB3S's with 180 horsepower single-plug heads, numbered 101 through 120, with No.109 likely becoming the mysterious No.11. It's confusing, but just think of it as 11 cars with twin plug racing engines (of some kind), 10 of which ran on the factory team, and 19 customer cars with more or less production single-plug engines. Forget about the mystery car (No.11), as nobody can agree to what it was or where it went.

But there is no doubt where No.9 went after its brief appearances in the 1956 team line-up, but a look at those appearances first. Not a good start, with bearing failure at Rouen, sidelining Peter Collins after 16 laps. However, No. 9's start at Le Mans resulted in a strong second overall behind a Jaguar D-type and a first in the three litre class, with Moss and Collins sharing the DB3S' second consecutive Le Mans second place. Moss won at Oulton Park and Salvadori finished up with a second at Goodwood. A very impressive exit for No. 9.

Racing in Australia in 1957 was much like racing in the U.S. at that time. There were many good amateurs, and a few pros, some with limited sponsorship, driving last year's hot factory racers. DB3 No.9 was sold to David McKay, a top level Australian driver who had found a sponsor (AMPOL) and had the backing of David Brown's Australian organization. John Wyer was rebuilding the car to sell so McKay had his colour choice, picking dark red over the original factory team British racing green.

"Much later, in the early 1960's, Carroll Shelby came to see me with his idea for putting an American V8 engine into a European sports car and asked me if Aston Martin would build a prototype. This, if ever, was the time to resuscitate the DB3S - as clean, simple concept, relatively cheap to build, with magnificent road-holding. We thus had the possibility to build the Cobra, long before Carroll approached A.C. Cars. But, by that time, we had the DB4, for which the demand greatly exceeded the supply and I dared not add the complication of another model. So I reluctantly declined but I will always believe that I, and Aston Martin, missed a great opportunity."

What might have been, could have been ...

SPORTS CAR INTERNATIONAL, JANUARY 1990

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